The food delivery market is evolving towards broader variety, more individualisation, and higher efficiency. As global market leader of online food ordering platforms, Delivery Hero has been operating innovative kitchen and delivery models for a while.

“Hungry? We’ve got your favourite.” Giving that promise to customers, we opened our first favourites kitchen under the flag of our local brand foodpanda in Singapore in April this year. The kitchen hub brings together seven popular restaurant brands under one roof, enabling customers not only to place orders at a single restaurant, but also place mix and match orders and receive them in one delivery.

The 3,100 square feet space is located in the North of Singapore – at 71 Woodlands Avenue 10 – and delivers to nearby districts of Sembawang, Woodlands and Yishun. Singapore’s favourites by foodpanda marked the city’s first dine-in restaurant concept from a food delivery company and offers 30 seats, so customers can enjoy their breakfast, lunch, or dinner on site.

Salad, sushi, or ice cream? Don’t make that a harsh decision, just take it all in one order.

Customers can order either from one of the restaurants or favourites. favourites unites the 15 most popular dishes from each vendor in the kitchen hub to one menu, making the order process even more convenient. As an example, hungry Singaporeans might order fried chicken from “Wingzone”, a bento box from “Ichiban Bento” and a sweet dessert from “Ben & Jerry’s” without having to switch menus, pass multiple checkout processes or being charged several delivery fees. Once the order is placed, the restaurants prepare the dishes and have them ready at a central pick-up point, where the rider takes over.

What is Singapore’s favourite, actually?

The launch of favourites by foodpanda in Singapore was a huge success, with thousands of orders placed during the first week of operation – which is very impressive for a brand-new kitchen hub. Now, some months later, we’re confident of two facts: First, making online food ordering more customizable and convenient truly is the key to an amazing takeaway experience; and second, Singaporeans are addicted to chicken! Whereas the very first customer ordered salad and a bento box, in the following weeks, incredible 50% of all orders placed were chicken.

Why it’s a win-win situation for both customers and vendors

The kitchen hub not only brings popular restaurants to places outside the city centers, where there is organically the least amount and variety of restaurants; it also makes food delivery even more efficient: As restaurants are brought closer to where customers live, delivery times will become shorter.

For partner restaurants, favourites is an opportunity to expand output and reach a broader customer base, while taking advantage of foodpanda’s efficient logistics and infrastructure. The space and facilities at the kitchen hub are offered up rent-free to brands, in return for a percentage commission from their sales. To follow their standard operations, vendors can bring their own equipment.

“With favourites, we’re adding another concept to our portfolio, aiming to create amazing and joyful experiences for our customers. Singapore, being a very important own delivery market of foodpanda, is the perfect place to accelerate our journey”, says Benjamin Bauer, Vice President Consumer Growth at Delivery Hero and Co-Founder of foodpanda. That’s why the second kitchen hub in Singapore is about to be launched; and the concept will be rolled out to other countries as well.